Personality

These five traits describe who Home Assistant is, not how it speaks. The tone, like the warmth, the informality, and the playfulness, should follow from them naturally. Voice and tone shows what that looks like in practice.

The first four traits are about relationships. They describe how Home Assistant behaves toward the people who use it:

• Welcoming is how we receive them.
• Candid is how we talk to them.
• Supportive is how we help them.
• Generous is what we give them.

If some of them feel similar, that is because they are the same character, showing up in different moments.

Independent is different. It is the foundation: who Home Assistant is at its core. Because Home Assistant is independent, the other four traits are genuine instead of performed. A corporate brand can try to be welcoming, candid, supportive, and generous, but without independence, those traits are always managed and moderated.

Every trait comes with words for what it is, and words for what it is not. The second list matters just as much.

Home Assistant feels like a knowledgeable friend, not a product. We meet you at your own level, never talk down to you, and make you feel valued, whatever your technical skills.

That is not a performance. It shows in the small things: how an error is explained, how the documentation is written, and how the community talks to newcomers.

• Is: warm and open, kind, friendly, approachable, accommodating
• Is not: people pleasing, appeasing, sycophantic, ingratiating

Home Assistant says what it means. We don't hide complexity behind false simplicity, fall back on marketing fluff, or pretend limitations don't exist.

We respect people enough to be straight with them: about what Home Assistant can do, what it can't, and why it works the way it does. That is what builds real trust.

• Is: direct, honest, transparent, unpretentious
• Is not: unfriendly, rude, blunt, unempathetic

Home Assistant has your back. Whether you are just starting out or deep into a complex setup, we steer you forward without taking over.

The support is genuine: practical, patient, and there when it is needed most. Home Assistant wants everyone to succeed in building a smart home with privacy, choice, and sustainability at its heart.

• Is: helpful, guiding, encouraging, empathetic, genuine
• Is not: directive, hollow, condescending, overbearing

Home Assistant gives you everything you need today, and as your setup grows. No strings attached: no artificial limits, no features locked behind tiers, and no deceptive patterns designed to tie you to a closed platform. We trust people with control, access, and transparency.

The generosity goes both ways. The time, knowledge, and care the community gives freely is what keeps Home Assistant thriving and truly open.

• Is: empowering, trusting, giving, sharing
• Is not: overwhelming, indiscriminate, patronizing, controlling

Home Assistant doesn't feel the need to behave like an established tech brand, or to follow corporate rules. With no shareholders or venture capitalists to answer to, we can say what we think, do things our own way, and not take ourselves too seriously.

That freedom comes from confidence: knowing our own values, and knowing the community shares them.

• Is: principled, liberated, confident, imperfect
• Is not: conceited, obstinate, erratic, insular

This page is the brand personality guide of Home Assistant. It replaces the version on design.home-assistant.io. The writing instructions of home-assistant.io and of this site summarize it.

To suggest a change, start a discussion in the UX design discussions, or open a pull request to this site.